2016 Review: Not All Bad, but Glad it’s Over

HappyChanukah&MerryChristmas!

With gifts wrapped, a fire merrily crackling in the wood stove, and the smell of baking bread wafting through the house, now seems a good time to reflect on the past year and prep for the next one.

2016 has not been a good year globally for anyone, and personally it’s been just as rough, but it’s had some shining moments. Going into 2016 we were in the final stretch of completing a new library, archives & museum building. As deadlines were being pushed, so was everyone’s patience with one another. With office supplies and rare and valuable material left to move- and to make matters worse, we were moving them into a building still under construction- emotional and physical exhaustion were running rampant. As with any group project of this scale, general human decency and professional behavior were often forgotten as questions of organization and protection of material tested staff members’ teamwork abilities. Oh and by the way, to top it all off, vacations were being restricted because we needed all hands on deck. So there was no escape.

With this situation in mind on January 1st, 2016, I wrote my New Year’s Resolutions:

I’ll tell you right now, both of these fell by the wayside. Nights of sheer exhaustion found me fast asleep before I even picked up the journal, and after hauling heavy boxes all day, exercise was out of the question.

Maintain new blog.

Ahh, now this one, despite the promise of few trips this year, I was able to keep. I actually took some GREAT trips and a few more than had been planned…

As the only escape from the daily grind this year was to literally leave town, we booked ourselves an overnight in Sitka. I gave Michael Chabon’s book, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, one more shot. I never finished the book. Thankfully, Sitka is nothing like Chabon’s imagination.

Then there was the “family obligation” trip to the East Coast for my grandmother’s 90th. (Thankfully my employers deemed this a fair excuse for skipping town.) During which, I might have added a couple extra days in New York City… where amidst visiting friends & family I found time to visit some literary destinations and discover that as much as I enjoy visiting the MET, I don’t think I’d want to stay over night. I’m happy to leave From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler to E. L. Koningsburg’s imagination.

And to round out the year, in a surprise move by my Mother, she took me with her for a week to Holland! (Holland posts will be next on the blog after we finish the Chincoteague series!)

So you see, part of me will be sad to leave behind the year I finally experienced Pony Penning Week, visited Amsterdam for the first time, and made the pilgrimage to PEI, much like I was sad to leave my visit to Corfe Castle in 2015, not knowing when I’d be able to return to Britain. But that brings us to 2017…

Looking Forward

I had no idea I’d be returning to the UK in just two years’ time. I am beyond excited that I will be attending a 3 week course on heritage places in England during the summer of 2017! The trip will bus us to several famous castles and heritage sites where we’ll be learning from conservators and preservationists! Part of the trip will take us to Bath where I will be sure to share with you everything Jane Austen related! There’s SO much literature to come out of Britain that I’m sure I’ll return with loads to share with you!

SO, with something to look forward to in 2017, I decided this December to take the bull by the horns and prep for the coming year:

You left out your accomplishment of 2016 that you started a weekly blog posts which in my opinion are pleasure to read. As of your question: “What was your favorite part of 2016?” I can answer that one of my favorite part was that I was able to take my Granddaughter and her boyfriend to a bookstore which has a “demand printing machine” and while they were looking the machine the store printed one of my books. Hot off the press I dedicated for them.

I'm Elizabeth, an Alaskan archivist/librarian & blogger. My passion for literature and history often influence my travel destinations. Let me share with you my experiences as I blog my way around castles, heritage sites, and take my nose out of my book long enough to explore the destinations that inspired the writing!

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~Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest

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